Using Facebook as Your Website
Posted by
Anne Craft on Fri, Jan 20, 2012 @ 02:33 PM
Pin ItIf you’re starting a business and don’t have a lot of cash on hand, or need a website but need something quickly, Facebook can be a cost effective way to get your business online. The biggest advantage, of course, is the cost.
Facebook business profiles can, in fact, mirror the functionality of a website. Here’s a short list of how.
- You can load logos, and/or profile banner graphics that brand your business professionally.
- You can create custom tabs that mimic different web pages that would otherwise occur on your site.
- You can embed contact capture forms to gather names, emails, and other user information for further marketing efforts.
- You can connect your blog, Twitter feed, and YouTube channel.
Some other advantages are that people spend a lot of time on Facebook, and have a higher chance of seeing the information that you post by chance or because one of their friends shared it. In addition, because people are trained to share that kind of information by the nature of Facebook, they are more likely to do so within the platform. And since Facebook has released its advanced search features, you might even show up in a Google Search, depending on the competitiveness of your product or service, and how well the copy on your business profile has been optimized.
But using Facebook as your website is not optimal. You cannot optimize a Facebook page to show up in the organic listings the same way that you can optimize a traditional website. Other SEO activities such as directory listings and creating backlinks don’t help your SEO efforts. And let’s face it. When we go to a Facebook page, we want the quick and dirty information. What you need to say in the copy of a web page may be too long to accomplish in the space you have allowed in Facebook. The navigation is also limited.
So while you can get away with using Facebook as your web page for a while, it should definitely not be your end goal. Make it a stepping stone, not the destination in your internet marketing strategy.
Take advantage of our ½ price custom tab for your Facebook page by clicking here!